[Coral-List] Has the death of the Great Barrier Reef been greatly exaggerated??
Lescinsky, Halard
hlescinsky at otterbein.edu
Tue Oct 18 15:49:42 EDT 2016
The article in question was featured prominently on Facebook, and was
widely distributed and read by many people with little interest or
knowledge about reefs. My experience was that over the weekend I was with
a group of friends and was asked out of the blue if the it was true the
Great Barrier Reef had died. The conversation stopped as many in the group
had also heard this and truly want to know. I was a little perplexed not
having known the origin of the rumor, but filled in the background about El
Nino and bleaching, and the difference between dead coral and the
structural reef and its inhabitants. Monday morning I caught up on Coral
List and sent a rebuttal link to a couple of my friends one of who texted
back "Good. That makes me feel better" . Today I taught two sections
of my general ed science course on Coral Reefs and before I had even
started the first lecture a student had approached me to ask if it was
true. I had planned ahead and put a link to the original article and a
rebuttal into my lecture and made it an area of discussion for the
day. More than half the students in each of the two sections had seen the
obituary, and I'd say they seemed to have lots of concerns, and not one
thought is was satirical or a possible future event. They read it as a
news feed.
While I was glad to have something to discuss and to have some truly
concerned and interested students, I guess I am more worried about the
"crying wolf" effect. Its hard to explain both that reefs aren't dead and
that their predicament was exaggerated while at the same time stressing
that they are still in fact in dire danger going forward... its easy to
lose the subtleties in such conversations.
In anycase, this is BIG NEWS among Americans on Facebook (I don't know
about elsewhere), and at least those in the US should plan a response
because we will probably be asked..
...Hal
On Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 9:58 AM, Dennis Hubbard <dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu>
wrote:
> As I remember, there was a disclaimer that this was a "future" obituary. We
> have waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on our hands if we spend any time going
> back and forth on this one.
>
> Dennis
>
> On Mon, Oct 17, 2016 at 11:07 AM, Steve Mussman <sealab at earthlink.net>
> wrote:
>
> >
> > Dear Doug,
> > Yes, it seems that the article/obituary has set off a firestorm. I
> took
> > it
> > as satire, but it seems that many readers and scientific purists felt
> > betrayed. Does it hurt legitimate science? Does it fuel indifference
> and
> > hopelessness? I'm not sure, but it did get people talking about the
> > state
> > of coral reefs and I believe that's better than neglect.. After all,
> the
> > higher purpose of satire is to be sure to infuse it with "the intent
> of
> > shaming individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into
> > improvement". You can't deny that in that sense, this is exactly what
> > the
> > coral doctor ordered.
> > Regards, Steve
> > ---Original Message-----
> >
> > >From: Douglas Fenner
> > >Sent: Oct 17, 2016 4:19 AM
> > >To: coral list
> > >Subject: [Coral-List] Has the death of the Great Barrier Reef been
> > greatly exaggerated??
> > >
> > >Here's the piece that seems to have started this debate off:
> > >
> > >Obituary: Great Barrier Reef (25 million BC- 2016)
> > >
> > >http://www.outsideonline.com/2112086/obituary-great-
> > barrier-reef-25-milli
> > on-bc-2016
> > >
> > >A quick search on "is the Great Barrier Reef dead" produced a
> myriad
> > of
> > >hits, including:
> > >
> > >Great Barrier Reef obituary goes viral, to the horror of
> scientists.
> > >
> > >http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientists-take-on-
> > great-barrier-reef
> > -obituary_us_57fff8f1e4b0162c043b068f
> > >?
> > >
> > >An irresponsible obituary for the Great Barrier Reef has gone
> viral-
> > here's
> > >what's actually going on.
> > >
> > >http://www.businessinsider.com/coral-bleaching-viral-
> > obituary-what-actual
> > ly-going-on-2016-10
> > >
> > >The Great Barrier Reef isn't dead, in spite of its viral obituary
> > >
> > >https://www.yahoo..com/news/great-barrier-reef-isnt-dead-
> > 134129631.html
> > >
> > >and many more.
> > >
> > >Cheers, Doug
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >--
> > >Douglas Fenner
> > >Contractor for NOAA NMFS, and consultant
> > >"have regulator, will travel"
> > >PO Box 7390
> > >Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799 USA
> > >
> > >phone 1 684 622-7084
> > >
> > >Join the International Society for Reef Studies. Membership
> includes
> > a
> > >subscription to the journal Coral Reefs, and there are discounts
> for
> > pdf
> > >subscriptions and developing countries. Coral Reefs is the only
> > journal
> > >that is ALL coral reef articles, and it has amazingly LOW prices
> > compared
> > >to other journals. Check it out! www.fit.edu/isrs/
> > >
> > >"Belief in climate change is optional, participation is not."- Jim
> > Beever.
> > > "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own
> > facts."-
> > >Daniel Patrick Moynihan.
> > >
> > >Policy: hasten the end of dated fossil-fuel subsidies
> > >http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v538/n7624/full/
> > 538171c.html?WT.ec_i
> > d=NATURE-20161013&spMailingID=52515861&spUserID=
> > MjA1NTA3MjA0OQS2&spJobID=1
> > 022286029&spReportId=MTAyMjI4NjAyOQS2
> > >
> > >Visuallizing the warmest August in 136 years.
> > >http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2016/
> > 09/12/heres-how-
> > the-warmest-august-in-136-years-looks-in-chart-form/
> > >
> > >website: http://independent.academia.edu/DouglasFenner
> > >
> > >blog: http://ocean.si.edu/blog/reefs-american-samoa-story-hope
> > >_______________________________________________
> > >Coral-List mailing list
> > >Coral-List at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
> > >http://coral.aoml..noaa.gov/mailman/listinfo/coral-list
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> Dennis Hubbard
> Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
> (440) 775-8346
>
> * "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
> Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
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